Historically, folding knives have fallen into two distinct categories, generally referred to as friction folders of the first category, or locking folders of the second category. Friction folders are typically configured in such a way as to provide a detent in both the open and closed position. The act of opening or closing such a knife often requires the user to deploy both hands in order to overcome a detent of varying degrees of resistance, while locking folders typically lock automatically upon opening. The two main options have been, that of either designing a knife more prone to the dangers of accidental closing, or that of designing a knife that requires delocking before closing, but somewhat less likely to close unintentionally. The compromise inherent in friction folding knife design, led to the development of locking folders that must be manually delocked before closing. These locking folding knives solved most of the safety considerations but introduced further complications of mechanical complexity, and in many cases, new safety considerations arising from the act of delocking, as in the case of the so called liner-locks which require the thumb to cross the path of the closing blade. The inconvenience introduced by the necessity to delock is often seen as a further disadvantage of current locking designs.